Probably the only thing I remember from my 9th grade english class is Mr Brody emphatically saying “Start with the moose!”  Well, here’s a moose…

Road biking can be a very data centric activity.  I have a power meter; a GPS; I have contributed to open source software and used Alteryx for analyzing the data; I have had training plans.  Some days my work life and my play life aren’t that different.

Today was about none of that.  Today I pointed my bike uphill (west) and rode to the end of the road.  Most of the time around Boulder, the point when you can go no farther is Brainard Lake at more than 10,000 feet – which happens to be one of the most beautiful places I know.

I didn’t ride too hard (not too slow either.) I let my mind go.  I thought about everything but biking; I thought about the new app (wizard) designer in Alteryx 9.0.  I thought about teaching programming to the kids.  I thought about traveling to far away places with Nathalie.

There is no stress – OK, maybe a little when the car blew off the stop sign on Old Stage Road.  I saw a Coyote 6 feet from the side of the road.  I saw a Moose just a bit farther.  It is days like today that I ride for.

Before I knew it, I was at the end of the road.  To be honest, I don’t remember too much of the ride, it disappears in meditation.